Spyware Beware of DEFENDER.

Microsoft has upgraded it's arsenal against the baddies (spyware, malware...).Out goes Microsoft Anti-Spyware and enter Windows® Defender!

According to Paul Thurrott of The Windows IT Pro magazine network: “Windows Defender Beta 2 combines the best-of-breed spyware detection and removal functionality from the old Giant Antispyware product and turns it into a stellar application that all Windows users should immediately download and install. Lightweight, effective, and unobtrusive, Windows Defender is anti-spyware done right, and I still consider this to be the best anti-spyware solution on the market. Highly recommended.”

You can download Defender from: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads

click on Windows® Defender (Beta 2). But, gone are the days of just downloading & installing a programme. To install Windows® Defender, you need to verify that you are a licensed Windows customer. The installation programme will take care of this for you.

You’ll find some pleasant changes. The tray icon is gone and you’ll find fewer pop-up windows. Windows developed Defender to be less intrusive working in the background, keeping your computer secure.

Once installed it will keep itself up to date. Defender will run on Windows 2000 SP4 or Windows XP SP2.

 

Burn Baby Burn:

If you bought a computer within the last couple of years, you have a CD Read Write drive and possibly a DVD read write drive. How do you tell? If you have Windows XP, open My Computer, look under the heading Devices with Removable Storage. There your optical drive should be listed either DVD-RW drive, CD-RW drive or DVD/CD-RW drive.

To burn to a CD you need either a CD-R or CD-RW disk. There are specialized burning disks but we’ll save that topic for another column. CD-R are generally inexpensive and are used to back up data. CD-RW are a little more expensive and generally are re-writable up to approximately 40 times.

If your computer has a CD burner it most likely came with special software used to burn CDs. But you can easily burn cd’s using Windows XP “send to” function, here is how: As an example, if you wanted to burn a correspondence document that you have stored in My Documents to a cd.

Open My Documents, right-click on the file, click on Send To: a sub menu will appear, click on CD-RW or DVD-RW drive. A bubble should appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, telling you that you have files ready to be burnt to CD or DVD. Open your CD drive drawer, put a blank CD or DVD into the drive and click the bubble or you can open My Computer and double-click the CDRW or DVDRW drive. Click the link in the top left-hand corner that says Write these files to CD. Type in a name to identify your CD, click Next, wait…, the cd/dvd will eject itself when done.

Are you UTD (up-to-date): The importance of keeping virus definitions up-to-date was again brought home. During the past 30 days there have been two mass-mailing worms quickly spreading through e-mails. The last was one discovered May 18, 2005. This is the important part: the worm may appear to be sent to you by a familiar e-mail address. The worm uses a process called spoofing, which means the “From:” e-mail address is not the true sender.

The worm may use some of the following subject lines, message bodies and attachment names: Subject Line: (One of the following) Notice: **Last Warning**; SUSPENDED ACCOUNT; Your Email Account is Suspended For Security Reasons; Notice:***Your email account will be suspended***; Your Email Account Has been Blocked; *WARNING* Your email Account Will Be Closed; Security measures; Email Account Suspension; *IMPORTANT* Please Validate Your Email Account.

You need to check the date of your virus definitions. If you think that the “computer does ‘it’ automatically”, recheck the dates. Many people tell me that their computers update daily and, in some cases this is true. In others, when I checked, their computer is scanning (not updating) for viruses with out-of-date virus definition.

Searching made Easier!

When using Google or any search engine I have found it a bit labour some. I am presnted with a list of possible sites, having to click on the link to view the site, if its not what I wanted, either click on back or close the window. Well now there is an easier way. There is a tiny program (only 668kb) that allows you to view your search results by simply by moving your mouse over an icon, making it a faster, easier and more fun way to browse the Web.

The programme is called Browster. With Browster, you can view a web page in 1/60th of a second, and move through a list of 10 results on a search engine like Google in seconds.

It works with both Internet Explorer and Firefox and can be downloaded free from www.browster.com. Click on Free Download, Download Now, download to your desktop. Once the download is complete, click on the icon on your desktop to install it. All this can be done within 5 minutes.

Once you have install Browster, connect to the internet, go to www.google.com and search for something. A little icon like a gold lightening bolt will appear to the left of your search results. If you move your mouse over the icon you'll see a window instantly open giving you a view of that website. You can then easily move to the next website by clicking on the next button. To get out of the “Browster view” move your mouse back to the Google list and the “Browster view” will close. Browster says it does not gather any personal information nor add any spyware.

Printing Outlook Express Address Book:

Open Outlook Express. Make sure the addresses are sorted in the desired way.Press and hold Ctrl + Shift tap the B. This will open your address book. To change the sort order:Select View, Sort By and select the order that you desire. To print your complete address book:Press and hold Ctrl tap the P. Under Print Range section click on the ¡ to the left of All. Click on Print.

To print a selected list:Press and hold Ctrl Click on the Contacts you desire to printPress and hold Ctrl tap the P

Under Print Range section click on the ¡ to the left of Selected. Click on Print.

System Restore:

Have you ever been doing something on your computer and everything went to pot? Well Windows Me and XP have a System Restore function that could save the day, provided you have it turned on. Let’s recheck that your system restore is on:

Windows XP: click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, System. Click on the System Restore tab. Recheck that the box to the left of Turn off System Restore on all drives is not checked. If it is click on the box to remove the check mark.Windows Me: Start, Settings, Control Panel, double-click the System icon. Click on the Performance tab, click File System. Click the Troubleshooting tab, and then check that Disable System Restore is not checked. If it is click on the box to remove the check mark.What to do if disaster strikes:Boot to safe mode (tapping the F8 key as the computer boots). Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Follow the prompts to restore your computer back to a previous date.

It is recommended, that prior to installing programs or making major changes to your computer to create a restore point. Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Follow the prompts to create a restore point.

Preventing Malware:

I would like this to be the last word on malware, but it won’t be. This comprehensive list came from the internet.

Preventing Malware Visit Windows Update: generally you’ll find Windows Update at the top of the Start menu. Connect to the internet; click on Windows Update and install all critical updates
Clean Up and Speed Up: click on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. This will remove any temporary internet files, empty the recycle bin, etc.
Use an alternative browser: refer to the column on Mozilla Firefox (The Informer - May 3,2005)
Keep your anti-virus program up-to-date: I recommend checking for virus updates each time you go on the internet, especially if you have an adsl connection.
Download & install a firewall: this, unfortunately has now become a “must have” either Sygate Personal Firewall or ZoneAlarm. Spyware Scanner: as mentioned in earlier columns Microsoft Anti-Spyware is the best, but it only runs Windows 2000 & XP. If you have earlier versions of Windows, download and install both Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot. Then update & run at least monthly.

Executing the above steps you will greatly reduce your chance of getting malware.

Removing Malware:

I recently read an article that claimed that Google runs ads for companies that claim to help your computer but are malware themselves! (www.pcpitstop.com/news/rob/rcheng0502.asp) .
So, “caveat emptor” or let the buyer beware and also “cheap meat never makes a good soup”. Do your research before buying anything, especially on the internet. You may get more than you bargained for.

What does this have to do with removing malware, you ask. All you have to do is do a Google search to find that there are literally thousands of websites on the removal of spyware.

If you suspect that you are infected with malware I recommend downloading Lavasoft Ad-aware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Microsoft Anti-Spyware. Run each of their updating functions and then scan in safe mode. Each will find malware that the other didn’t. If you can’t download these programs, I am happy to provide the malware removal service or can provide you with these programs on a cd. Once you have eliminated the malware, you can remove Ad-aware and Spybot. Leave MS Anti-Spyware because it has real-time monitoring, just like your anti-virus program, and it will also automatically update the spyware definitions; provided you are on the internet long enough.

Spyware:

has your internet connection slowed? Are you getting unwanted e-mails? Has your homepage changed?

You could be infected with spyware. Spyware is claimed to be more viral and widespread than virus infections or spam. The definitions of spyware vary but they all agree that “spyware” is software that is installed on computer without the user's knowledge or consent. The term “spyware” actually no longer really fits; so these nasties have been renamed "malware", or malicious software programs.What malware does to your computer varies. This list covers most of the common effects:- steals your personal information and address book (identity theft and keystroke-logging).- floods your browser with pop-up advertising.- spams your inbox with advertising email.- slows down your internet connection.- hijacks your browser and redirects you to an advertising or a phishing-con web page.- uses your computer as a secret server to broadcast pornography files.- slows down or crashes your computer.

Where does malware come from? Most experts believe, that the user has “agreed” to or downloaded innocent-looking web page components or software such as: a game demo, search toolbars, or free subscriptions. Subscribing to online services may also a case for getting malware.

Mozilla Firefox

E-mailing has become the preferred method of communication for many businesses and individuals. Thus e-mails are important to include in your back up procedures; but Windows makes it quite difficult to find exactly where the e-mails are stored so they can be backed up.I have found that if I move the e-mail storage folder to My Documents, then it is heaps easier to back up.Here is how to do that:Open My Documents, click on File, New, FolderType: “e-mail DO NOT TOUCH”, press enterClose My DocumentsOpen Outlook Express, click on Tools, Options, Maintenance.Click on Store Folder, Change, navigate to My Documents and to the folder you just created “e-mails DO NOT TOUCH”, click Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok.Close Outlook Express. Open Outlook Express.When you reopen Outlook Express your e-mails will be transferred permanently to the new folder in My Documents.

Note: You can not access your e-mails through this folder. If you accidentally delete this folder, you will lose all your e-mails.

Trojan horse: